Hamiltonian Type Operators in Representations of the Quantum Algebra U_q(su_{1,1})

Abstract

We study some classes of symmetric operators for the discrete series representations of the quantum algebra U_q(su_{1,1}), which may serve as Hamiltonians of various physical systems. The problem of diagonalization of these operators (eigenfunctions, spectra, overlap coefficients, etc.) is solved by expressing their overlap coefficients in terms of the known families of q-orthogonal polynomials. We consider both bounded and unbounded operators. In the latter case they are not selfadjoint and have deficiency indices (1,1), which means that they have infinitely many selfadjoint extensions. We find possible sets of point spectrum (which depends on the representation space under consideration) for one of such symmetric operators by using the orthogonality relations for q-Laguerre polynomials. In another case we are led to new orthogonality relations for {}_3\phi_1-hypergeometric polynomials. Many new realizations for the discrete series representations are constructed, which follows from the diagonalization of the operators considered. In particular, a new system of orthogonal functions on a discrete set is shown to emerge.